Cyberbullying: Use of social media a common weapon to attack victims

Jason Siedzik

Published 12:00 am, Thursday, March 21, 2013

The outpouring of comments throughout Twitter attacking the accusers of two Torrington High School football players may have stemmed from their arrests, but according to various school and high school sports officials, the comments -- and the motivation to post them -- are hardly new. Rather, school districts, parents, coaches and athletes have to work together to prevent support from crossing the line.

Joan Toribio and Edgar Gonzalez, both 18, were arrested in February and charged with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor in connection with two separate incidents on Feb. 10. Toribio was also charged with a second count each of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor after another incident. Lieutenant Michael Emanuel of the Torrington Police Department said the charges are due to the fact that "statutorily, it's not consensual." Toribio and Gonzalez played on the Torrington High School football team in 2012, and Gonzalez was the team's second-leading scorer that year.

Since their arrests, friends and former teammates of Toribio and Gonzalez have taken to social media, notably Twitter, to attack the victims. These comments were one of the things that Southern Connecticut Conference commissioner Al Carbone says he tells team captains that they have to dissuade, as the conference discusses cyberbullying and social media conduct during their annual captains meeting.

"By meaning well or not meaning well," Carbone said, "to try and get your message across, you're only making things worse."

Tweets attacking the victims -- two 13-year-olds -- sprung up in the wake of their arrests, such as one user under the handle "ShelbyyKulinski" who posted "Sticking up for a girl who wanted the D and then snitched? have a seat pleaseeee". The tweets included graphic language and photographs, and were shared widely. According to Regional School District 10 superintendent Alan Beitman, these tweets could be seen by their posters as supporting their friends, but the ramifications are lost on the posters who are too young to grasp the impact of their words.

"They're making comments about each other, and sometimes, people they don't even know," Beitman said.

Region 10 hired former state trooper Gene Torrance as a school resource officer to help deal with the everyday crises that flare up in middle and high school. As Beitman noted, Torrance's presence in the halls can help stem some conflicts, since "now, with our school resource officer, they have a direct contact." But lately, Beitman and Carbone noted, these crises include cyberbullying, which has become part of the shift in culture.

Given the increased prevalence of mobile devices and social media, Beitman said, cyberbullying is more common and much harder to police. Although the superintendent said that parents need to take the lead on teaching their children proper behavior online, Beitman acknowledged that schools do play a role in stemming cyberbullying, remarking that "that's where the school's role is, to connect the families, make sure the children understand their roles."

"With anything good, it can be abused and misused," Beitman said. "It doesn't make any difference if it's Greenwich, Plymouth, Manchester or Region 10."

Torrance said that while the district has dealt with several incidents involving social media -- including one ongoing investigation -- cyberbullying has not been an issue yet in the district. Although Torrance said that "we're constantly reminding the parents to monitor what their children are doing," Beitman noted that this oversight is much harder online.

The anonymity of, and lack of in-person interaction due to the remarks makes settling issues, and resolving the matter, even harder, according to Beitman. Since social media sites are so public, Beitman added, "sometimes, they think they're being funny and they're saying things to each other, and it gets out of hand."

"When I was growing up," said Beitman, "you'd end up with a fist in the nose and it was over with."

But these remarks could also be prevented, Carbone said, through team leadership. The SCC has discussed social media during their captains meetings, emphasizing that as team leaders -- or even just figures of admiration in their schools -- their words will carry weight,

"What we try to instill is that they're leaders," said Carbone, "and in their position as captains or student athletes, people are going to look at them."

Subsequently, Carbone added, athletes are in a unique situation in terms of preventing cyberbullying. Carbone noted that due to that authority, "it's a core part of our captain's leadership training, understanding the ramifications of social media."

"We've said nine years ago that everything that you do, say, write, tweet sends a message," said Carbone. "People are obviously looking up to you as an athlete."